Guitar teaching guru Tom Hess has released an internet resource to help guitar players increase their maximum speed.

Guitar teaching guru Tom Hess has released an internet resource to help guitar players increase their maximum speed. His resource focuses on giving advice and tips for how to become a fast guitarist easier.

Tom Hess begins his resource by explaining an important concept to understand for those looking to become fast players: “To play guitar fast and clean, you must master two-hand synchronization. This means being able to pick and fret notes at exactly the same time. Without this skill, you will begin missing notes and playing sloppy at higher speeds.”

Hess goes on to discuss several strategies for developing this skills: “One approach is to double pick notes when you practice any given exercises. This forces your hand to move twice as fast as the fretting hand. As you do this, it becomes challenging to articulate each note clearly, and any mistake you make becomes very obvious. Once you return to playing only one note at a time, it feels much easier and effortless to pick.”

Another approach Tom Hess discusses is practicing guitar unplugged. This agrees with his ideas about improving your articulation in order to make picking feel easier. He recommends to add this into a smaller portion of your guitar practice as a supplement. He also recommends to practice single string exercises:

“Picking with accuracy on a single string takes a lot of concentration and once you can do it... your two-hand sync will go through the roof. Choose a scale, exercise or lick that only has notes on a single string and repeat it several times until it’s perfectly clean. Then repeat this process at a faster tempo to keep getting better and better. This may be challenging at first, but once you are used to it you begin seeing the amazing results it provides for your playing.”

Tom Hess’s free online resource about playing guitar fast can be found on tomhess.net.

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Tom Hess is a guitar player, music career mentor and guitar teacher trainer.